In encrypted messages, Muhammad Shahzeb Khan warned his co-conspirators “to keep no beard and take the appearance of the kuffar,” (unbelievers), lest they attract the attention of the authorities in the lead up to an alleged plot to cross from Canada into the United States and kill Jews in New York City.

A criminal complaint, sworn by Federal Bureau of Investigation special agent Khajae Hester in a New York court on Sept. 4, details the exacting planning that Khan allegedly went through in preparation for what he, per encrypted chat and text messages quoted in the document, hoped would be the largest terrorist attack on American soil since 9/11.